Anyone who has ever sailed is most aware of the thrill of skimming along the waves, with the wind billowing the sails overhead. Likewise, those skillful enough to use surfboards have enjoyed in recent years, surfboards provided with a hand held mast to which a sail is secured, for these wind-driven devices have such light weight and unusual handling characteristics as to provide the user with a truly breathtaking ride.
The characteristic of a sail driven surfboard is that the user climbs upon the surfboard, and after standing up, proceeds to pull up the sail and mast. The first breeze will then propel the craft along, and the user obtains a ride for as long as his skill and the wind hold up. All of the steering and control is accomplished by means of the sail, and in a craft of the type taught in the 1965 article by S. Newman Darby and in the Schweitzer U.S. Pat. No. 3,487,800, the user holds a wishbone and with it provides the entire restraint of the sail and mast against the wind. A safety feature of the Schweitzer type device involves the fact that should the wind become excessive, the user need only release the wishbone, whereupon the sail drops into the water and high speed travel ceases.
No matter what the skill level of the user of the sail driven surfboard, he or she is destined to fall into the water frequently, such as when the wind changes markedly in either speed or direction, or if the wind dies out entirely, or if the user for any reason loses his or her balance.
Only the more skillful participants are ever able to obtain much enjoyment from a device of the Schweitzer type, for the maintenance of the mast and sail in the proper relationship to the wind is physically very demanding, and good coordination is essential. It was to overcome the limitations and demands of the Schweitzer type device that I was inspired to evolve the present invention.